Supporting means for bed covers



June 27, 1967 c P Rw SUPPORTING MEANS FOR BED COVERS Filed July 19, 1965[MA TOR. CECIL. PuRvls WMMfMfZ/M AHarne 93 U Hg 4.

United States Patent 3,327,329 SUPPORTING MEANS FOR BED COVERS CecilPurvis, 311 S. 6th St, Beech Grove, Ind. 46107 Filed July 19, 1965, Ser.No. 473,085 4 Claims. (Cl. -319) This invention relates to means for thecovers of a hospital-type or adjustable bed; and concepts of theinvention provide an advantageous, simple, and economical support meansin association with such a bed, which supports the bed covers above themattress even though the sections of the bed are moved relative to oneanother, and which automatically adjusts its longitudinal length toaccommodate such relative movement of the bed-sections.

In certain instances, as where a person has been severely burned, it isdesirable to keep bed coverings elevated, ed the body of the patent; yetit is also desirable, on occasion, to adjust the sections of the bedrelative to each other. It is with such a use-situation that a deviceaccording to the present invention is particularly useful.

The concepts which provide this support means are described in detail inthe following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof,reference being bad to the accompanying somewhat diagrammatic drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a supporting means for bed covers, mountedon an associated hospital-type or adjustable bed;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are detail views illustrating pivotal connections ofmembers of the supporting means;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, schematic view of the supporting meansillustrating the support means in one position of adjustment of thebed-sections; and

P16. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating the parts inanother position of bed-section adjustment.

As shown in the drawings, an illustrative embodiment of the inventionprovides a bed-cover support means for an articulated or foldable bed,reference numerals and 12 being applied generally to the support meansand bed, respectively. The bed 12, it will be understood, has suitablemechanism and construction so that its upper surface, here shown asrelatively foldable mattress-sections 14, is capable of being adjustedto a plurality of positions such as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Turning to FIG. 1 for a showing of details of the cover-support means10, it is noted that the support means 10 includes a pair oflongitudinally-extending bottompieces or support rails 16, each ofarticulated nature with a center section 18 and head and footend-sections 20. The center sections 18 are of a length corresponding tothe longitudinal length of the central mattress-section 14; and theconnections 21 between the center section 18 and the end-sections 20 ofeach rail 16 are pivotal (see FIG. 2) permitting the rail-sections toassume a position supportingly lying on their respectivemattress-sections.

Three cover-supporting lateral arch members 22 extend cross-wise of thebed, the ends of the members 22 being rigidly connected to respectiveportions of the rails 16, that is, one of the members 22 extends betweenrespective rail-end sections 20, another member 22 extends between therail center-sections 18, and the third member 22 extends between theother rail-end sections 20.

In the embodiment shown, the members 22 are each perpendicular to theassociated rail-section; but, although this relation provides largecover-elevation throughout a variety of positions of bed adjustment, theinventive concepts are not limited to this perpendicular relation. Neither is there a limitation to a rigid connection of members 22 to rails16, and in some models, it may be desirable to provide a pivotalconnection, desirably with a winged thumbscrew or knurled nut toconveniently maintain a selected orientation.

Inter-connecting the central lateral arch-member 22 and each endarch-member 22 is a longitudinal support member indicated generally byreference numeral 24. Each member 24 is shown pivotally connected (seeFIG. 3) to a bracket 26 fastened to the adjacent lateral support member22; and each of the longitudinal members 24 is made of telescopingsections 28 and 30.

Thus, in use, as for example when the bed is adjusted from its positionshown in FIG. 4 to that of FIG. 5, the longitudinal link members 24automatically adjust in length to accommodate the movement and thechange in dimension between the arch members 22.

It is seen that a cover support means according to the inventionprovides a device which is simple in construction, yet which is quiteconvenient and certain in its operation as described above.

Thus, the present invention accomplishes its intended objects, includingthose hereinbefore pointed out and others that are inherent in theinvention.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be efiectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered limited tothe specific form or arrangements herein described and shown.

I claim: 1. A cover-support for an adjustable-section bed, comprising:

a pair of articulated supporting rails having sections adapted tosupportingly lie on sections of the bed;

laterally-extending cover-supporting members, supportingly connected tosaid rails, and spaced along the bed for supporting bed covers at anelevation spaced from the bed;

linkage means supportingly connected to said coversupporting members,being telescopable of nature and thus permitting relative movement ofthe coversupporting members in and between different positions ofbed-adjustment.

2. A cover-support for an adjustable bed, comprising:

an assembly of laterally-extending and longitudinallyextendingcover-supporting members for supporting bed covers at an elevation abovesaid bed;

the laterally-extending members being movable with respect to oneanother to accommodate different positions of bed adjustment; and thelongitudinallyextending members being of telescoping nature toaccommodate said relative movement of the said laterally-extendingmembers.

3. A cover-support for an adjustable bed, comprising:

laterally extending cover-supporting members supported by said bed andmovable with respect to one another to accommodate different positionsof bedadjustment;

longitudinally-extending members interconnecting adjacent ones of thesaid laterally-extending members, and being of telescoping nature toaccommodate said movement thereof.

4. A cover-support for an adjustable bed, comprising:

laterally extending cover-supporting members sup ported by said bed andmovable With respect to one another to accommodate different positionsof bedadjustment;

longitudinally-extending cover-supporting means extending betweenadjacent ones of said laterally-extending members, and being ofvariable-length nature to accommodate said movement thereof.

(References on following page) 3 4 References Cited FOREIGN PATENTSUNITED STATES NT 73,398 11/ 1951 Denmark. 00 77 0 05 Woodward 5 319 XPrimary Examiner.

3,029,447 4/1962 Maertins 5-92 5 FRANK B. SHERRY, Examiner. 3,097,370 7/1963' MHICOH 1 R. D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A COVER-SUPPORT FOR AN ADJUSTABLE-SECTION BED, COMPRISING: A PAIR OFARTICULATED SUPPORTING RAILS HAVING SECTIONS ADAPTED TO SUPPORTINGLY LIEON SECTIONS OF THE BED; LATERALLY-EXTENDING COVER-SUPPORTING MEMBERS,SUPPORTINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID RAILS, AND SPACED ALONG THE BED FORSUPPORTING BED COVERS AT AN ELEVATION SPACED FROM THE BED; LINKAGE MEANSSUPPORTINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID COVERSUPPORTING MEMBERS, BEINGTELESCOPABLE OF NATURE AND THUS PERMITTING RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF THECOVERSUPPORTING MEMBERS IN AND BETWEEN DIFFERENT POSITIONS OFBED-ADJUSTMENT.